Videographer CV Examples & Writing Guide

Search results for this job mix two completely different things. A videographer CV is a normal document you send to get a camera job. A video CV is a short film about yourself that some people send instead of a CV, in any field. This page is about the first one.

This sample is for a videographer with about ten years, now running a freelance business after in-house and camera assistant roles. The name and clients are invented. Notice the showreel link in the contact line, the shoot-day counts and the kit block.

Whether you are applying for an in-house job or being considered for a freelance day, the person deciding is answering these questions.

• Does the showreel match the job? Wedding work does not sell a corporate documentary role, and a moody narrative reel does not sell an events job. Cut a reel per lane if you work in several.
• What can you run alone? Single-operator interview setups, run-and-gun, live multicam, aerial. Solo capability is the highest-value line on a videographer CV, because it halves a crew.
• What kit comes with you? Camera bodies, lighting, audio and support, plus whether you carry insurance. A producer is calculating the hire line while reading.
• Do you finish? Camera-only shooters and shoot-plus-edit videographers are priced and hired differently. Say which you are, and give a turnaround.
• Can you handle people and logistics? Interviews with nervous contributors, filming permissions, call sheets, client-side stakeholders on set. Technically strong shooters who cannot manage a room get called once.

“The first thing I check is whether you can run a two-camera interview alone: lights, lavs, backup audio, and get it looking right. After that, the kit list and whether you carry your own insurance. Those three lines decide the booking.”

Three lines. What you shoot, how often, what you own, and whether you edit. Use a career objective only if you are entering the field.

Videographer CVs tend to describe the medium rather than the work. Here is the difference.

Split this into what you own, what you can operate, and what you can do. Producers read all three differently.

Kit, by category (mark what you own versus what you have worked on):

• Camera bodies and the formats you shoot: log profiles, frame rates, raw or internal codecs
• Lenses: zooms, primes, cine housings and what focal lengths you actually carry
• Lighting: key units by name, modifiers, practicals, and whether you can build a 3 or 5-point interview setup alone
• Audio: lavaliers, shotgun and boom, field recorder, wireless systems, timecode sync
• Support: tripods and fluid heads, gimbals, sliders, shoulder rigs, car mounts
• Aerial: drone models, plus your CAA Flyer ID, Operator ID and A2 CofC or GVC status
• Live production: switchers, encoders, converters, comms and streaming platforms
• Media: card capacity, dual-card recording, on-set backup and verification workflow

Craft skills, which is what separates two people with identical kit:

• Exposure and monitoring: false colour, waveforms, LUTs on set, protecting highlights in log
• Lighting for skin tones across different subjects, and matching mixed sources
• Composition and camera movement with intent rather than for its own sake
• Interview directing: question structure, room setup, calming non-professional contributors
• Location scouting, sound problems, power planning and filming permissions
• Documentary run-and-gun instinct: knowing what will cut together while you shoot
• Post skills if you deliver: editing, grading, mixing and platform deliverables

The business side, which matters most for freelance work:

• Public liability and equipment insurance, with your level of cover
• Quoting, scoping, contracts, usage rights and deposit terms
• Call sheets, shot lists, contributor release forms and music licensing
• Travel readiness, a full UK driving licence and a vehicle that carries the kit
• Working with client stakeholders on set without losing the day

No licence is needed to be a videographer in the UK, with one significant exception, and a couple of things that function like credentials.

• Drone flying is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). For most camera drones you need a Flyer ID (an online theory test) and an Operator ID, and many paid jobs call for the A2 CofC or a GVC with an operational authorisation, depending on the drone and how close to people and buildings you fly. Put your drone credentials in your contact line or personal statement, not buried at the bottom.
• Experience of flying inside airport flight restriction zones with permission is worth mentioning, because it tells a producer you can handle a city-centre or near-airport shoot legally.
• Public liability and equipment insurance. Many venues and corporate clients will not let you on site without proof of public liability cover, so listing your level of cover removes a booking obstacle.
• Software certifications carry mild weight: Blackmagic Design Resolve operator certification and Adobe Certified Professional are real and verifiable.
• First aid training, such as Emergency First Aid at Work, is genuinely useful on location shoots and reads well for documentary and event work.
• A full, clean UK driving licence, and a vehicle able to carry your kit. Say it plainly if the work involves travel.
• Filming permission is handled differently by local councils, parks, transport operators and private landowners, so say where you have arranged permission to film rather than claiming general expertise.

This field hires on evidence, not credentials, which is good news if you are starting. The obstacle is that most beginners' showreels look like exercises. The fix is real work with real constraints.

1. 1Put "Videographer" under your name with the showreel URL in the contact line.
2. 2Use a Projects section instead of experience, and treat each project like a job: client, brief, your role, kit used, running time and outcome.
3. 3Do paid or unpaid work for actual organisations: a charity, a local business, a band, a school or youth project. A real brief and a real deadline show in the footage.
4. 4Assist on other people's sets. Even 15 days as a runner or camera assistant gives you set etiquette, references and vocabulary a producer can test in an interview.
5. 5Get your CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID, and the A2 CofC, if aerial work is anywhere in your plan. Registration is a legal requirement for most camera drones, the A2 CofC is affordable, and drone credentials are among the few genuine qualifications in this field.
6. 6List your own kit honestly, including the modest version. "Canon R6, two LED panels, a shotgun mic and a Zoom recorder" is a working entry-level kit and producers know it.
7. 7Show one clean interview setup in your showreel. It is the most common paid job in this field and the fastest way to prove you can light and record audio.
8. 8One page, plain layout, PDF with working links.

• One page is ideal for in-house applications, two at most. Freelancers can use the second page for a client and project list.
• Order: name and contact with showreel URL, personal statement, kit and skills, experience or projects, certifications, education. The kit block sits high because producers price against it.
• Single column, real text, no photo, no date of birth, no designed poster layout. Corporate and agency recruitment systems parse those badly.
• Link one showreel per lane if you shoot several kinds of work, and label them: brand, documentary, events, aerial.
• Freelance work goes in one block with a client count and three named projects, not a list of one-week gigs.
• Say your travel radius and whether you have a passport. Production work moves.
• PDF with clickable links, and check them on a phone before sending. Name it Firstname-Lastname-Videographer-CV.pdf.

Advert words worth mirroring when they are true: videography, cinematography, camera operation, lighting, audio capture, interview setup, b-roll, run-and-gun, multicam, live streaming, drone, CAA GVC, gimbal, log footage, colour grading, post-production, media management, call sheet, shot list, client-facing, on location, travel.